ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 115,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,353 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy makes up approximately 1.7% of ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $11,222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Duke Energy by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 5,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth $670,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 71.9% in the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,718,000 after acquiring an additional 11,715 shares during the period. Power Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $277,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 35,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,492,000 after purchasing an additional 6,023 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK traded up $0.95 during trading on Friday, reaching $100.26. The stock had a trading volume of 4,338,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,636,808. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $95.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.09. The stock has a market cap of $77.35 billion, a PE ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $100.56.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Company Profile

Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest.